Cranbourne railway line

Cranbourne railway line, Melbourne
Line details
Completed	1886
Length	14 km (8.7 mi)
Stations	2
Tracks	Single track with crossing loops
Used by	Metro Trains Melbourne, Pacific National cement trains
Service pattern	Stopping all stations
Rolling stock	Hitachi, Comeng
Connections	Pakenham
Former connections	South Gippsland
Railways in Melbourne
	List of stations; Freight railways; Closed railways; Proposed railways;

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The Cranbourne railway line is a suburban electric railway service operated by Metro Trains Melbourne in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. It operates along the inner section of the former South Gippsland line.

[edit] Description

The line traverses flat country and there is little in the way of earthworks. There are several level crossings along the line. The area around Cranbourne is one of Melbourne's main growth areas, giving the line considerable potential for growing patronage.

[edit] Infrastructure

The line, which branches from the Pakenham line at Dandenong, is single track throughout, with a crossing loop towards the Cranbourne end of the line. Trains can also cross at Cranbourne itself, which has two platforms. Power signalling is provided throughout, being controlled from Dandenong. There are no intermediate terminating facilities, however stabling sidings were recently constructed and opened in Cranbourne.

Beyond Cranbourne there is a siding between Cameron Street and Berwick-Cranbourne Road near the Cranbourne "Shed" and the new Hunt Club Estate. The line then continues to Leongatha, but between Cranbourne and Nyora, the line is unserviceable. Government plans have the line to Leongatha being rebuilt and reopened, but there appears to be little happening in this regard.

[edit] Services

Cranbourne, Merinda Park, Dandenong, all stations to Caulfield/Malvern, express to South Yarra, then all stations to Flinders Street via City Loop. Services before 6:30am and after 8:30pm are shuttle services between Cranbourne and Dandenong. A small number of peak hour services stop all stations.

The only freight traffic was cement traffic from Waurn Ponds near Geelong to Lyndhurst, this ended in 2009 after Pacific National increased the costs charged to Blue Circle Southern.^[1]

[edit] History

The Cranbourne line opened in December 1886 as part of the section to Tooradin. This was the first section of the South Gippsland Railway, with passenger services to Leongatha withdrawn on 24 July 1993. The last train ran on 24 July 1993 with P class locomotive hauling an FSH set to Leongatha and back to Melbourne.^[2]

In November 1993, Train Order Working replaced Electric Staff safeworking to Cranbourne, then on 24 March 1995, the electrification and power signalling on the Cranbourne line was commissioned. Funded as part of the Federal Government ‘Building Better Cities’ program,^[3] the $27 million project included an upgraded Dandenong station and a new Merinda Park station at Cranbourne North^[4] (the line had previously been electrified for a short distance to the Commonwealth Engineering siding).

The last regular train running though and beyond Cranbourne was on 16 January 1998, when the AGM Siding (near Nyora) to Spotswood station sand train ceased operation.^[5]

In 2008, work started on the construction of six train stabling sidings at Cranbourne station at a cost of $37 million, to enable more trains to run on the line at peak times without duplicating the line,^[6]^[7] which was completed in November the same year, along with a major upgrade of the station and the extension of platform 2.